A student must meet with the Graduate Student Coordinator and complete the Program of Study Form prior to their final semester of study. After it is approved by the student’s Supervisory Committee and the Director of Graduate Studies it will be submitted to the Graduate School for approval.

All PhD students are required to fulfill the following credits requirements, (regardless of path requirements):

Additional courses may be recommended or required by a student’s advisor and supervisory committee.

• A minimum GPA of 3.0 on coursework listed on the program of study with no grade lower than C- is required for graduation. Courses cannot be removed from a transcript after they are taken. If a student receives a grade lower than C- in a course listed on the Program of Study they must take a different course to meet the 30 credit requirement or repeat that same course and receive a higher grade, if the course is required for their track.
  • Students who receive an “Incomplete” grade in a class must complete the work as soon as possible.
• Coursework cannot be used for more than one degree- see How to Transfer Graduate Credits
• Cross-listed courses must be registered through the ECE course numbers.
  • A course taken for 5000-level credit cannot be taken again for 6000-level credit.
  • Where an ECE course has both a 5000- and 6000-level number, the 5000-level version is intended for undergraduates and the 6000-level version for honors and graduate students. The two versions of the class will meet together, but extra work will be expected of honors and graduate students.

Students who have not earned a prior MS degree at the University of Utah are required to complete additional coursework. This can include courses from the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) or other allied departments:

Each student forms a supervisory committee with members who will guide the student’s graduate program and conduct the student examinations (Qualifying Exam, Research Comprehensive Exam, and Final Oral Exam). The Ph.D. supervisory committee consists of five members – at least three of the committee members must be tenure-line ECE faculty members, and at least one must be from outside the ECE Department. When a student has established their committee they should notify the Graduate Student Coordinator who will enter it into their student file.

A student’s Ph.D. faculty advisor is the committee chair. The chair* and majority of the committee (3 out of 5 committee members) need to be:

1. University of Utah Faculty
2. Electrical and Computer Engineering (as Academic Home Department)
3. Tenure-Line**

A list of faculty and their classifications can be verified on the OBIA Faculty Information page. If a committee member does not meet all three of these requirements, they are considered an Outside Committee Member. A PhD Supervisory Committee is required to have at least one Outside Committee Member. If one of the committee members is not University of Utah faculty, the student must request and submit their Curriculum Vitae (CV) and a Justification Letter for approval by the Graduate Committee. For more information, read Rules for Outside Member Necessities.

Any exceptions to these criteria must be submitted as a petition and are not guaranteed approval by the Dean of the Graduate School.

*Tenure-line faculty outside of the ECE Department may supervise a student as a co-chair with a tenure-line ECE faculty member.
**Adjunct ECE faculty are not tenure-line and may serve as an Outside Committee Member

The proposal is 15 pages written in an NSF or NIH format with a recommended outline available on the Graduate Writing Resources page (students should defer to their supervisory committee’s requests for alternative paper structures). The oral component is conducted by the supervisory committee according to Graduate School regulations.

Please note: The PhD proposal and the defense cannot be completed in the same or adjacent semesters. There must be at least one term gap between either which may include Summer. (Spring/Fall, Summer/Spring, Fall/Summer are acceptable).  As such, students should be respectful of their committee’s time and plan ahead and send the proposal several weeks prior the end of the semester.

It is strongly recommended, that after completing/revising their proposal to their supervisory committee’s satisfaction, the student should now have the content to draft their preliminary pages and up to their 4th chapter of their thesis/dissertation. (see Graduate Writing Resources for chapter explanations and template)

They should submit this draft to the thesis office for preliminary review and feedback on proper formatting.

This is for students who have not yet earned a Master’s degree from a US or Canadian University. International students who have earned a Master’s degree in their home countries are eligible for this pathway.

A Milestone Master’s degree must be completed in the same department that the student completes their PhD in. A student must meet the following criteria prior to earning a Milestone Master’s degree:

Students should work with their advisor and committee to determine coursework relevant to their future research and professional goals.

Students who have already earned a Master’s degree from an American or Canadian university are required to complete the following coursework requirements:

Additional courses may be recommended or required by a student’s advisor and supervisory committee.

Students who have already earned a Master’s degree from the University of Utah before starting their PhD program are only required to complete the following coursework requirements:

Additional courses may be recommended or required by a student’s advisor and supervisory committee.